Chemical Industry Seeks Pregnant Woman for Greenwashed Bisphenol-A Ads

Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical found in certain plastics and in canned food, has been blamed for a host of health ills including infertility, diabetes, prostate cancer and breast cancer. Several states including California and Connecticut are in the process of introducing BPA bans, and the chemical and metal packaging industries have decided to ‘fight back’ against the turning tide of public opinion by starting a new PR campaign for the chemical, starring a pregnant woman.

The industry held a secret meeting to discuss ways they can improve BPA’s public image, and reporters at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel got their hands on a leaked internal memo. A snippet, via The Daily Green:

“A pregnant woman would be ‘the holy grail’ to serve as a spokeswoman, the memo says. Attendees said they doubted they could find a scientist to serve as a spokesman for BPA. …

“Other strategies discussed at the meeting included focusing on how BPA bans would disproportionately put minorities at risk, particularly Hispanics and African-Americans who are more inclined to be poor and dependent on canned foods. Committee members said they would try to get stories in the media that spread the message that canned goods made without BPA would be more likely to become contaminated. BPA serves to seal food in cans, helping to keep out bacteria.

The Washington Post explains that the industry is seeking ways to scare consumers – especially young mothers – into ignoring negative information about BPA.

Industry representatives weighed a range of ideas, including “using fear tactics [e.g. "Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?" as well as giving control back to consumers (e.g. you have a choice between the more expensive product that is frozen or fresh or foods packaged in cans) as ways to dissuade people from choosing BPA-free packaging," the notes said.

Thanks for the advance warning, guys – now we all know to totally ignore any bullshit propaganda you put out in an attempt to keep people poisoned because it’s convenient for you.

What’s even more sickening is that a commercial alternative to BPA does exist and has already been implemented in Japan. Perhaps it could be put into use here, too, if only the FDA hadn’t deemed BPA safe largely due to two studies funded by a chemical industry trade group.

This is what kills me about the idea that corporations running the country without government oversight would be a good thing. Because obviously, these corporations have our best interests in mind, huh?

Link [The Washington Post] + [The Daily Green]
Photo credit: Empathy Belly

Exposure to Pesticides Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

If you live near a farm sprayed with a combination of pesticides, you may be at greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. New research has found that, when mixed, two common pesticides called maneb and paraquat have ill health effects that may explain the increased rates of Parkinson’s among farmers and rural residents.

From The Daily Green:

The scientists found that people who live within 500 meters of a field sprayed with the pesticides maneb and paraquat in combination, but not individually, had a 75 percent higher risk of Parkinson’s disease relative to controls. Being exposed to the mixture at a younger age resulted in an even higher risk. Individuals potentially exposed to these pesticides when they were 60 years old or younger were 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

These results are predicted by studies which showed that exposing rodents to maneb and paraquat together resulted in reduced motor activity, nerve cell loss and decreased levels the neurotransmitter dopamine in certain areas of the brain as observed in Parkinson’s patients. Animal studies also predicted Costello’s finding that effects of these pesticides would be more important when exposure occurred at a younger age. (See trade names and other information about maneb and paraquat. Maneb is sold as Manzate among other brand names. Paraquat is sold to consumers as Ortho Weed Killer among other brand names; its use is banned in several Scandinavian countries.)

If you’ve ever known someone with Parkinson’s disease, you know how devastating it can be. Studies like this really make you wonder about all of the chemicals we’re surrounded by on a daily basis. As the study points out, current safety evaluations are performed on chemicals individually, not when they’re combined – but we’re exposed to a combination of all kinds of different chemicals. Who knows what other modern health ills can be attributed to such chemical cocktails.

Link [The Daily Green]

Toxic Gifts: Read the Ingredients before Slathering on that Smelly Lotion

So, you’ve opened all your gifts and among them are some cologne, lotion, body wash or other personal care products loaded with fragrance. You might be eager to try out your new stuff, but before you douse yourself in that rank smelling body spray in the hopes of enticing your sister’s hot friend into joining you under the mistletoe, check the ingredients. There might be stuff in that harmless looking product that could seriously affect your health.

The number one ingredient you should look for? Fragrance. Whenever you see ‘fragrance’ you should read it as ‘hidden chemicals’, due to a major loophole in FDA federal law that allows manufacturers to include nearly any ingredient in their products under the word ‘fragrance’ without actually listing the chemical.

From the Environmental Working Group:

Companies that manufacture personal care products are required by law to list the ingredients they use, but fragrances and trade-secret formulas are exempt. An analysis of the chemical contents of products reveals that the innocuous-looking “fragrance” often contains chemicals linked to negative health effects. Phthalates, used to make fragrances last longer, are associated damage to the male reproductive system, and artificial musks accumulate in our bodies and can be found in breast milk. Some artificial musks are even linked to cancer. And if you’ve got asthma, watch out– fragrance formulas are considered to be among the top 5 known allergens, and can trigger asthma attacks. The same kinds of chemicals are often used for fragrances in cleaning products, scented candles, and air fresheners.

Never assume that ‘fragrance’ means natural essential oils. If the scents used in a product are natural, the manufacturer is going to make sure you’re aware of that – it’s a major selling point. It’s sad that we have to be responsible to ensure that neurotoxins, carcinogens and other dangerous substances don’t end up in our bodies without our knowledge, but the FDA simply doesn’t regulate the personal care/cosmetics industry as well as they should.

Look up any product you receive in the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, which rates products according to the safety of their ingredients. Don’t assume that just because a brand has a reputation for natural and organic products, that every product from that brand is safe.

Link [EWG] + [Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database]

The ‘Will it Blend’ Guy Puts New iPhone 3G in the Blender

This gives a new meaning to ‘Apple sauce’. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this guy’s other ‘Will it Blend’ videos, but he basically takes stuff like tin cans full of pork and beans (like, the entire can) and sticks it in his blender to see if it will work. It’s all part of a viral marketing campaign for Blendtec, and I must say, the blender is obviously pretty powerful. Watch the video below:

So, Mr. Will it Blend, Tom Dickson, stood in line to get a brand new iPhone 3G and dropped that baby in his blender to see what would happen. It was completely obliterated, and when Tom peeled the lid off the blender, a nasty puff of smoke and tiny particles of who knows what wafted in front of his nose. Let’s analyze what was in that toxic burst of air that he just inhaled. How much time will that knock off his life?

InfoWorld kindly provided us with a breakdown of some of the nastiest materials in the iPhone:

According to Greenpeace, an independent lab tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone’s antenna. A mixture of toxic phthalate esters was found to make up 1.5 per cent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables.

“Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified as ‘toxic to reproduction, category 2′ because of their long-recognized ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals,” said Dr. David Santillo, senior scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, who coordinated the project and deconstructed the iPhone for analysis. “While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range.”

Gross. I hope Tom’s not planning on having any more children. Obviously, most of us are not going to be in a situation where we’ll be inhaling iPhone dust anytime soon, but it still makes you wonder about putting that thing next to your head and mouth every day.

Link [Neatorama] + [InfoWorld]